Row over US Bollywood 'detention'

India has asked the US to explain why a leading Bollywood film star was allegedly detained for two hours at Newark airport, which serves New York. Shah Rukh Khan, who was released after India's embassy in the US intervened, said he felt angry and humiliated. The actor, who is promoting a film on racial profiling, said he was stopped because he had a Muslim name. But US customs officials denied that Mr Khan had been detained, saying he was questioned for 66 minutes. Elmer Camacho, a spokesman for the US Bureau of Customs and Border Protection, said the questioning was part of the agency's routine process to screen foreign travellers, the Associated Press news agency reports. Check list The US ambassador to India, Timothy Roehmer, said the embassy was looking into Mr Khan's case. Speaking in Delhi, Mr Roehmer said: "Shah Rukh Khan, the actor and global icon, is a very welcome guest in the United States. Many Americans love his films." He said the embassy was trying to "ascertain the facts of the case - to understand what took place". Mr Khan, 44, earlier told the Press Trust of India news agency he had been detained by immigration officials at Newark airport because his name came up on a computer check list. He told the agency that he had been released after he was allowed to message a politician in India, who contacted the Indian embassy in Washington on his behalf. Mr Khan was on his way from New York to Chicago to attend an Indian independence day celebration when he was stopped at Newark airport in the state of New Jersey. Mr Khan later tried to play down the incident. When asked about it while attending the Chicago celebration, he said: "I think it's a procedure that needs to be followed, but an unfortunate procedure." The news was widely reported by Indian media outlets. Mr Khan has appeared in more than 70 films and is considered one of India's most recognisable and popular celebrities. Last month, America's Continental Airlines apologised to APJ Abdul Kalam amid outrage in India when it emerged that the former Indian president had been frisked and made to remove his shoes at Delhi airport in April. The airline said in a statement that it had not intended to offend Mr Kalam or the sentiments of the people of India. (Source:news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8203696.stm)

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SENSEX UNDER PRESSURE; REALTY, BANKS DOWN

SENSEX UNDER PRESSURE; REALTY, BANKS DOWN

MUMBAI: Market continued to reel under selling pressure as cautious traders stayed away after the shaky opening in line with global markets. stocks
in realty, banks and capital goods were badly hit. At 12 pm, Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensex was at 13767.20, down 403.25 points or 2.85 per cent. The 30-share index touched an intra-day low of 13701.76 and high of 14039.58. National Stock Exchange’s Nifty was at 4076.45, down 125.70 points or 2.99 per cent. The broader index hit a low of 4061.10 and high of 4201.85. “Nifty has supports at 4165-4140-4115 and below 4115 it could fall to 4085-4070 during the day. The index has resistances at 4195-4225-4250 and above 4250 we may see short covering and the index may move to 4275,” said Arihant Capital market reportBSE Midcap Index was down 3.42 per cent and BSE Smallcap Index declined 3.44 per cent. Amongst the sectoral indices, BSE Realty Index fell 7.27 per cent, BSE Bankex slipped 4.62 per cent and BSE Capital Goods Index fell 3.88 per cent. Tata Steel (-7.52%), Reliance Infrastructure (-6.85%), DLF (-6.56%), ICICI bank
(-6.49%) and Sterlite Industries (-6.21%) were amongst the Sensex losers. ACC (3.35%), Grasim Industries (1.30%), Tata Motors (1.04%) and Maruti Suzuki (0.93%) were amongst the gainers. Market breadth was negative on the BSE with 1847 declines and 393 advances. Asian markets were down on concerns of economic recovery in the US. Nikkei 225 was down 2.35 per cent, Hang Seng fell 1.69 per cent and Strait Times slipped 0.72 per cent.

INDIAN BUDGET BRINGS "HOPE AND CHANGE": HINDUJAS

INDIAN BUDGET BRINGS "HOPE AND CHANGE": HINDUJAS

London (PTI): Leading NRI group, Hindujas have hailed the Indian budget as one of "hope and change" and has suggested that the shortfall of resources for achieving 9 per cent growth can be bridged by allowing NRIs and other foreign investors to invest in the country.
The group Chairman Srichand P Hinduja said here that Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has presented a "confidence - building Budget of hope and change with focus on all inclusive growth."
Hailing the Budget as a "positive one," he noted that it has proposed higher allocation of funds for a number of development programmes for the benefit of the common man like the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and extension of farmer debt waiver scheme, which he said would "fulfill the expectations under the political mandate".
While the direct tax proposals in the Budget were "revenue neutral," indirect tax measures will result in some gain, but the resources generated are not adequate to meet the social and infrastructure spending proposed, he said.
"The huge shortfall of resources for achieving 9 per cent growth can be bridged only by making the business environment attractive for foreign/NRI investors and Public- Private-Partnership," he said.
He suggested that investment friendly environment can be created by making the sanction process for infrastructure projects more transparent, ensuring Centre-State-co-ordination and simplifying procedures.

FIVE KILLED, THREE INJURED IN ACCIDENT

FIVE KILLED, THREE INJURED IN ACCIDENT

Solapur (PTI): Five persons, including a seven-year-old child was killed and three others injured in a road accident near Ule village on Solapur-Osmanabad road, police said on Wednesday.
The incident took place on Tuesday night when a car in which they were travelling collided head-on with a truck, they said.
The deceased have been identified as Mohsin Kazi (21), Balaji Barkul (35), Yash Barkul (7), Yogesh Tawate (16) and Ashok Shinde (32), they said.
The injured have been admitted to a nearby hospital, they said.

Medical student accuses senior doctor of rape in Mumbai

MEDICAL STUDENT ACCUSES SENIOR DOCTOR OF RAPE IN MUMBAI

A case of rape has been registered against a doctor at St George Hospital in south Mumbai by one of his juniors, police said on Tuesday.
The junior doctor has alleged that Dr Rahul Deswal raped her repeatedly, the police said.
The case was registered today and Deswal is currently interrogated by officers at M R A Marg police station, they said.

MANMOHAN SINGH ARRIVES IN ITALY

MANMOHAN SINGH ARRIVES IN ITALY

Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh arrived in Rome on a four-day visit on Tuesday to attend the G-8 summit.
During his visit, Dr Singh is expected to discuss global issues with leaders at the G-8 meeting.
The leaders will deliberate on steps for reviving the global economy hit by financial downturn as well as for mitigating the impact of climate change.
The two-day G-8 summit will begin from on Wednesday. The G-5 countries comprising of Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa are slated to be major dialogue partners in the G8 summit.
The Prime Minister is expected to meet US President Barack Obama and other world leaders.
He will discuss several issues, including climate change, energy and food security with G-8 leaders and those from outreach countries like China, Brazil, Mexico and South Africa.
The summit will primarily focus on winding down expensive stimulus packages for recession-hit financial systems.
Besides the financial crisis, the summit will also discuss the issue of protectionism, food and energy security. This will be the fifth time that the Prime Minister will attend a G-8 summit since 2003.